


When the Snow Melts

by Haxaaya



Category: Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, 牧場物語つながる新天地 | Story of Seasons
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 10:32:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18030068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haxaaya/pseuds/Haxaaya
Summary: “And me… The new me that you’ve made… The me that loves you so deeply and has grown to be able to feel the beauty around him? I’ve come to think that he’s not so bad. Holly, words cannot express how thankful I am for you. Thanks to you, everyday has been a blessing."





	When the Snow Melts

_“And me… The new me that you’ve made… The me that loves you so deeply and has grown to be able to feel the beauty around him? I’ve come to think that he’s not so bad. Holly, words cannot express how thankful I am for you. Thanks to you, every day has been a blessing.”_

***

The cool, white light from the wintry sun peeked out from behind the grey clouds that spread across the sky and shone down on Holly’s golden blonde hair as she took her usual path into Westown. Holly thought there was something special about the appearance of the sun on a winter’s day. The warmth it seemed to provide even as the north wind bites, the way the caused the ice to sparkle, the way it provides promise that the dawn of spring was just around the corner. To Holly, sunshine and snow were an unexpected, but a usually welcomed combination.

Today, however, Holly was too distracted mumbling to herself as she made her way towards Westown’s clinic to notice the sunshine shining down on the ice.  
“Stupid doctors. Stupid injections.” Holly mumbled grumpily to herself.  
Last week, Holly had received a letter from Westown’s resident doctor, instructing her to come to the clinic this afternoon so she could receive her winter vaccinations. Holly hated injections and had spent the past week trying to think up elaborate excuses so she could avoid her appointment with Doctor Ford.

  
As her dreaded appointment loomed closer, she knew avoiding it would be impossible. Her thoughts went back to the first time she had been called into the clinic to receive an injection, shortly after moving to a farm just outside of Westown last winter. Jokingly, she had told Ford that she’d rather avoid receiving any injections after being told that there wasn’t a pain-free alternative way to administer them. Ever since she was a child, Holly had been squeamish around needles and hospitals. Instead of laughing her comment off or reassuring her that the injection would be over within seconds, she was reprimanded by Ford for being stupid and not taking his medical treatment seriously. This was followed by a long and blunt lecture from Ford about the dangers of going unvaccinated. Ever since then Holly had dreaded attending any more appointments with him. She was pretty certain that Ford didn’t like her.

The winter snow danced in the air, a choreographed ballet conducted by the gentle wind. Holly paused in her tracks to admire the beauty of the snow-touched world in front of her. Her eyes grew wide in wonder, and she was distracted momentarily from her frustrations. So much had changed since last winter, when she was a naive newcomer with a dream of proving her father wrong. A lot had already happened in the space of a year and Holly had learned a lot during that time. Tough lessons, but ones that at the end of those hardships made her feel even more capable than she did before. Now things were more settled and she was in a more comfortable position with her farm, she could appreciate the beauty around her more, the future that was beckoning her without worrying that it would be taken away from her at any moment.

Skin pale against the numbing air, Holly blinked thoughtfully as the frost patiently kissed her face. Holly took a deep breath and continued walking towards her destination. She knew it was childish to get so worked up over an injection, it wasn’t like her to get so upset about something so trivial. She was being silly and immature. She wondered if her reluctance over seeing Doctor Ford had anything to do with it. Holly was an outgoing person, who tried her best to be optimistic (when needles weren’t involved) even when she wasn’t feeling the best version of herself.

Ford, on the other hand, came across as blunt and at times unapproachable. She couldn’t imagine having the types of conversations she’d usually with people like Komari or Wayne. Conversation flowed easily and naturally with those types of people. Ford and Holly were just too different. Holly seemed to accept that their personality types just didn’t really match, they shared nothing in common as far as she knew. One was ice, the other sunshine.

***

With a deep sigh, Holly climbed up the steps of the clinic’s porch and opened the door. She knew the sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could head back to her farm and snuggle up in the mountains of blankets she has made sure to acquire over the past year for the colder months. She had learnt her lesson when she spent her last winter in a tiny house, that resembled a garden shed more closely than anything, with no heating. A couple of home improvements, warmer clothes, and growing collections of fluffy blankets later, Holly was more prepared for the colder weather this Winter had brought. Holly walked inside the clinic and closed the door behind her, making sure not to let it slam. She knew Ford didn’t like to be interrupted by loud noises.

Last Summer, Holly had been trying to get ores from the mining nodes besides the clinic in order to upgrade her tools. She hadn't realised that the impact of her hammer against the node was making a loud noise and causing the clinic beside her to shake until Good stormed out of the clinic and complained that Holly’s whamming and whacking was distracting him from finishing up an important research paper than needed to be submitted soon.

She glanced around the waiting room, half expecting Ford to be waiting for her at the front desk, ready to lead her to one of the private consultation rooms and stab her with needles. She also expected there to be people sitting down and waiting for their own appointments with Ford. Since the gates to Lulukoko and Tsuyukusa were now repaired, Westown had become a lot busier. Wayne, the postman, had to deliver letters to more people now, Lisette’s shop was usually full of customers, and Ford was the only doctor around so was responsible for providing healthcare to all three towns. Holly assumed that there would be other people waiting to receive their vaccinations, but the waiting room was empty and there was no Ford in sight. Holly sat down on one of the benches and waited quietly, glancing around every few minutes to see if she could detect any sign of life here. He’s probably in one of the consultation rooms with someone else right now, Holly thought to herself.

Holly waited for what seemed like hours, but in reality, was probably only twenty minutes. Still, it was unusual for Doctor Ford to not be punctual. Usually, he was the one commenting on her being two minutes late to her appointments and the importance of being on time. Holly stared out of the window bored. The sun had returned to hiding behind the clouds and the snowfall was getting heavier. She considered getting up to leave, Ford was obviously busy and she needed to return to her farm before she got snowed in. As Holly shuddered at the thought of being trapped in the clinic, she suddenly heard a loud bang and the sound of glass crashing to the floor above her.

  
“Oh, this will simply not do!” Ford shouted frustratedly from what sounded to Holly being from one of the room upstairs.

  
Holly stood up quickly, alarmed by the loud, sudden noise. She wondered if there has been an explosion. Perhaps there had been an accident or some kind of commotion between Ford and an upset patient. She moved towards the staircase instinctively. Usually, Ford only invited Wayne and Brad upstairs, she knew he probably wouldn’t be happy with her going up there, but she was worried something was wrong. She wouldn’t sit around downstairs whilst something odd was happening above her.

  
Holly hurried up the stairs, imagining numerous scenarios of what could be happening as she ran. When she approached the door she opened it quickly and saw Ford standing over his desk, standing in a pile of mysterious green liquid and broken glass as he held up two vials of chemicals in front of him and stared at them impatiently.

  
“Hmm… Then that would mean… No. Wait. It should be… Yes, I see.” Ford mumbled to himself.

  
“Doctor Ford…?” Holly called out as she approached him slowly, being careful not to step in any of the broken glass or unknown liquid that has crashed to the floor.  
“Ah. It’s you. I’ll have to ask you to wait a moment. I am currently in the midst of some research and…” Ford paused and looked alarmed, “Wait! What time is it?” He placed the vials onto the desk and patted his pockets in search of his pocket-watch.

  
“Your appointment? Ah! Yes indeed. You’re here for your vaccination. I apologise but I must ask you to wait for a few minutes. I must clean up this mess immediately, I cannot have this room looking like a dump. Wait outside.” He gestured distractedly to the door and glanced around the room for his cleaning supplies.

  
Ford was one of the last residents of Westown that Holly had met when she moved to her farm. When she first arrived, Ford had been away on a business trip and so was introduced to him a lot later than the other residents. Her friend Wayne had offered to introduce Holly to the town’s doctor when he arrived back from his trip, Holly remembered Wayne stopping outside the clinic for and checking Holly thoroughly for any signs of dirt on her clothes. Before stepping inside, Wayne warned her that Ford expected visitors to make sure they weren’t dirty when they arrived at the clinic as he has a ‘thing about cleanliness’. Holly always made sure to wash and take care of her hygiene, however being a farmer it was hard not to have the odd pieces of hay caught on your shoes or soil stains from planting crops on your jeans. Her first interaction with Ford wasn’t what she expected.

  
“Allow me to make one thing clear: I have no patience for slobs or ragamuffins. If you wish to see me, come clean and in proper attire!”

  
“I could help you clean that up… If you’d like.” Holly offered shyly.

She hadn’t interacted with Ford much so she wasn’t sure what the best thing to say to him was without getting scolded. She hated being talked down to, treated like a clueless child. The way Ford had spoken to her on the occasions they interacted reminded her of the way her father had spoken to her during the weeks leading up to her big move. Holly thought that maybe she felt a certain way around Ford because their interactions reminded her of her father, a man she had a troubled relationship with and so she projected those feelings of resentment onto the first similar person to him she had found. She’d never admit that though, she felt ashamed by it. Children were supposed to have perfect relationships with their fathers, she felt that she was a bad daughter for not having completely positive emotions towards him. When Ford scolded her, she went back to the moment where her father tore apart her dreams. Holly’s walls went up automatically. 

Holly wished she could take back her offer, the right answer to Ford’s command was probably to not answer at all and wait outside in silence.

  
“Well… I’m sure that would make the cleaning process quicker. Just put things back in the exact spot I tell you to, and put some gloves on.” Ford nodded towards a pair of gloves placed neatly on the counter, “There’s a possibility the liquid on the floor is acidic. If you cut your skin on the glass then got the liquid in your wound it would be disastrous.”

  
Holly did as Ford instructed and put the gloves on, then she grabbed a dustpan and brush and carefully brushed the glass shards into the dustpan.  
“What were you trying to make?” she asked.

  
“I am trying to perfect the chemical formula for a truth serum, Holly. Patients frequently avoid telling me important details about their wellbeing, as their doctor their refusal to tell me such things can be detrimental in my treatment towards them. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to conduct a truth serum to give to patients, so they will answer my questions honestly. Unfortunately, I believe the elephant dung hasn’t reacted well with the hydrochloric acid. I’ll have to start this experiment over.”

  
Holly glanced up at Ford and paused, “Is this truth serum meant to be given to your patients orally…?”

  
Ford blinked, “Well of course it is, I can’t administer this through a needle. The purpose of it is to make my job easier.”

  
Holly squirmed at the thought of putting elephant dung in her body. She was grateful that his experiment had failed, especially since she probably was one of the patients he had in mind when attempting to create it.

  
Ford always had notices on the town board, advertising for human guinea pigs to test his creations in exchange for money. According to Brad, Ford’s creations also regularly seemed to be unsuccessful. Whilst there had been some weeks where Holly had been low on money, especially at the start of the season when she had to buy and plants lots of new crop seeds, she had never considered volunteering to be one of Ford’s test subjects. The revelation that he was using elephant dung in one of his experiments only cemented Holly’s desire to avoid testing any of his formulas.

  
Holly and Ford cleaned the rest of the room in silence, Ford only spoke occasionally to give her instructions on what cleaning chemicals to use or which disposal bin to put things into. It took a long time to clean since Ford insisted on the entire room to be clean to be on the safe side. He looked uncomfortable the entire time he dealt with the mess he had created. Holly was glad that Ford had allowed her to help, she would rather be occupied doing something that waiting around downstairs. Especially since the task would have taken even longer with only one person doing it.

***

Holly stared out of the window worriedly whilst Ford excused himself to sanitise his hands and put on clean clothes. It was already dark outside. Holly squinted to try and see if she could make out the level of snow that had fallen since she entered the clinic. She wasn’t worried about making the walk home from Westown in the dark, she had done that many times before, especially after the evenings she spent with her friends at the Garden Grill. The problem was the snow. If the snow was too deep, then it would be dangerous for her to travel down the hills back to her farm. She didn’t want to slip and hurt herself or be out in the cold for too long. She couldn’t risk getting sick, there was too much work to be done.

  
“Thank you for your assistance, Holly,” Ford said quietly from behind her, making Holly jump.

  
“That’s okay,” Holly replied then said hesitantly, “It’s getting late… It’s already dark outside and I should probably head back to my farm to check on the animals. I know I was meant to have my injection today but I really have to get going…”

  
Ford nodded curtly, “Indeed. You’ll have to return to the clinic tomorrow morning to get your injection if you arrive when the clinic opens I’ll fit your appointment in before my other patients. I’ll see you out.”

  
Holly looked relieved and offered him a polite smile, “Thank you, I promise I’ll be here first thing tomorrow.”  
Ford put his hands in his lab coat pockets and walked beside Holly silently as she headed towards the main door. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he adjusted his white gloves then reached out to open the door for Holly.

  
Wayne was always insisting on Ford learning how to be a better gentleman. Ford’s member turned back to one of Wayne’s recent lessons, apparently, it was important to open the door for people you were with, especially if they were a young lady. Ford was met with resistance as he tried to open the door, he reached out with his other hand and attempted to push it open with more force. It was an old door, and visitors to the clinic often found it too heavy. It was unlike the door to be this difficult to open, however.

  
“Oh no…” Holly frowned and joined Ford in pushing the door open. Even with their combined weight, something was still blocking the door from being pushed open. “It doesn’t seem to be budging, it’s like something’s blocking it or it’s frozen shut.”

  
“It must be the snow,” mumbled Ford. “It appears we may be snowed in.”

**Author's Note:**

> If any readers of Yes I Am have found this new story of mine, or any new readers, then hi!  
> I find it really hard in Trio of Towns to pick between Wayne and Ford, and the same problem has arisen in my writing too. I hope you enjoy this fanfiction focused on the blossoming relationship between Holly and Ford. I'll still be updating Yes I Am regularly, just this story will also be updated alongside it.  
> Enjoy!


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